Musical instrument



G. M. RUSSELL.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE H. 1915. 1,310,035. Patented July 15, 1919.

{SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. M. RUSSELL.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEH. 1915.

Patented July 15, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 Iwvenifor: Guy MRws-sell,

THE COLUMBiA PLANOURAPII C0,, WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. M. RUSSELL.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE n. 1915.

Patented July 15, 1919.

-3 SHEETS SHEET 3 I 71/087050 (Jug ZIRusseZZ,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUY M. RUSSELL, vOF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN PIANO COMPANY, OF NEW'YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1919.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GUY M. RUSSELL, a resident of Rochester, county of Monroe, and State of New York, and a citizen of the United States, have invented an Improvement in Musical Instruments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to automatic musical instruments such, for example, as player-pianos and pertains more particularly to mechanism whereby any portion of the musical composition on the note sheet may be readily repeated.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description of an illustrated embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a player-piano equipped with illustrative mechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a vertical sectional view of power pneumatics and devices cooperating therewith shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan of a music roll receiving box and valve controlling mechanism mounted thereon;

I Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the broken line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the broken line 66 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the broken line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the broken line 88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9, on an enlarged scale, shows the transmission from the motor driven crank shaft to the music spool, takeup spool, and to the mechanism mounted on the spool box for controlling the direction of feed of the note sheet; and

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of motor means for operating the piano-player.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the key-bed of a player-piano above which are boards 3 and 5 which may conceal the usual piano action. Mounted on the board '3 is a box 7 for receiving the music spool 9 and the take-up spool 13. A note sheet 15 may be fed to and from a tracker 17. g

The usual vents in the tracker may be connected with motor pneumatics in any practicable manner, as, for example, by a duct 18 leading to a diaphragm chamberof the primary valve of a motor pneumatic 01 having a sticker 8 which may operate any practicable type of action such, for example, as the piano action a. These parts are shown herein merely by way of illustration and will be referred to hereinafter generically as note-playing means or mechan1sm.

To drive the take-up spool, it is provided with a shaft 19 carrying fast thereon a gear 21 driven by a pinion 23 fast on a shaft 25 journaled in bearings in one of the end walls of the box 7 and in bracket 27 secured to the outer face of said wall. The shaft 25 projects somewhat beyond said bracket and receives the sprocket wheel 29 fast thereon connected by a sprocket chain 31 with a sprocket wheel 33 on a crank shaft 35 journaled in bearings in a frame 37, said shaft being rotated by an assembly of motor pneumatics 39 of usual construction. I

Next will be described means for driv ing the music spool. To accomplish this a sprocket wheel 41 is loosely mounted on the shaft 25 and connected by a sprocket chain 43 with a sprocket wheel -15 on a shaft 17 journaled in one of the sides of the box 7 and in the bracket 27 referred to. The spools may be detachably connected to their driving shafts by usual means which it is unnecessary to describe in detail herein.

To hold the note sheet taut while the take-up spool is driven, the music spool shaft 47 is provided with a wheel 19 fast thereon having a brake-shoe 51 engaging therewith and ada )ted to exert a slight drag on said wheel 'sufiicient for the purpose referred to.

To hold the note sheet taut while the music spool is driven, a pusher shoe 52 is provided on a rod 52 adapted to slide in a bore in one of the sides of the box 7 into and out of engagement with a face of the take-up spool gear 21. The rod is shifted by a bell crank 52 having a resilient arm operated by a clutch lever to be referred to.

When it is desired to rewind the sheet from the take-up spool onto the music spool,

said spools over the sprocket wheel 11 is connected to the shaft to rotate therewith. To accomplish this said sprocket wheel is provided with a pin projecting from a face thereof and adapted to be engaged by a pin 53 on a clutch member 57 fast on said shaft 25. To shift said member toward and from the sprocket wheel a1, a lever 59 is provided having diametrically opposed pins engaging a circumferential groove in said clutch member. The lever termediate its ends on an arm 61 mounted on the bracket 27.

To shift the. clutch controlling lever 59 to cause the take-up spool shaft or the music spool shaft to be driven as desired, the lower end of said lever is connected by a rod 63 with a' crank 65 fast on the upper end of a vertical shaft 67 journaled in bearings in a bracket 69 and in the keybed 1. The lower end of said shaft is provided with a crank 71 connected by an extensible link clockwise (Fig. 1)

take-up spool.

73 with a hand lever 75 last on a shaft 77 journaled in a block 79 mounted on the under face of the key-bed.

WVhen the hand lever 7 5 is rocked contrait will rock the clutch lever 59 to the right as shown in Fig. 1, thereby positively connecting the sprocket wheel 4:1 with the shaft 25 and disconnect- 23 from the gear 21 on the This will cause the music spool to be driven and the note sheet to be rewound thereon. Vhen the hand lever 7 5 is rocked clockwise in Fig. 1 it will rock the switch lever 59 to the left of said figure and disconnect the sprocket wheel 11 from the shaft 25 and connect the pinion 23 with the gear 21. Then the take-up spool will be driven and the note sheet will be played.

Frequently it is desirable to repeat one or more times the playing of merely a portion of the sheet. Heretofore this operation has been rendered difficult because of the inability in repeating, to'locate readily the par ticular part of the composition on the note ing the pinion sheet which it is desired to repeat and to 7 plate 95.

control the unwinding and rewinding of the sheet effectively for this purpose.

By my invention means are provided for readily and easily repeating the playing of any portion of the sheet as desired. To accomplish this a lever 81 is mounted fast on the hand lever shaft 7 7 referred to. Cooperating with one arm of this lever is a power pneumatic 83 carried by abracket 85 depending from the key-bed. To control'this pneumatic there is provided a block 87 beneath it containing an exhaust chamber 89, above which is a valve chamber 91 communicating with the pneumatic 83 through a duct 93. The valve chamber 91 communicates, with the atmosphere through an apertured To control communication between the vacuum chamber and the duct 93 59 is fulcrumed in-.

a valve 97 is provided in said valve chamher having a stem 99 depending therefrom. This valve will normally be maintained on its seat as shown in Fig. 2-to close communication between the power pneumatic 83 and the exhaust chamber 89. To lift said valve and open communication between said power pneumatic and the exhaust chamber, thereby to collapse the power pneumatic to the position *shown in Fig. 2, there is provided at the bottom of said vacuum chamber a diaphragm 101 and a chamber 103 beneath said diaphragm connected by a duct 105 with a block 107 mounted adjacent one end of the top of the spool box 7 referred to. In said block is a port 109 (Fig. 7) communicating with the duct 105 and normally closed from the atmosphere by a valve 111 fulcrumed on a pin 113 and normally closed by a leaf spring 115 secured to said block 107. Cushion material is interposed between the valve 111 and the opposed face of the block 107 to assure a tight closure of the port.

When the valve 111 is closed as'shown in Figs. a and 7, the chamber. 103 referred to beneath the diaphragm 101 is cut off from the atmosphere. On the opening of the valve 111, however, the chamber 103 will be opened to atmosphere, thereby permitting the exhaust which is maintained in the chamber 89 above the diaphragm to lift the latter and elevate the valve stem 99 and the valve 97, thereby closing the apertures in the plate 95, shutting off the power pneumatic 83 from atmosphere and opening said pneumatic to the exhaust in the chamber 89. This will cause the. power pneumatic to collapse as shown in Fig. 2, rock the lever 81 in a clockwise direction and, through the connections described, shift the clutch lever 59' and disconnect the sprocket wheel altherefrom and connect up the drive of the take-up mounted adjacent the end of said spool block 7, opposite to the block 107 referred to and equipped with aspring pressed valve 123, all of said parts being smilar to these de scribed for shifting the lever 81 in a clock- Wise direction (Fig. 2) and therefore do not need to be described in further detail.

Next will be described means for automatically opening the valves 111 and 123 for controlling the driving of the take-up spool or music spool as required[ To accomplish this there is provided a shaft 125 (Figs. 1, 3 and journaled in bearings in blocks 127 mounted on the top of the spool box 7 referred to. To drive this shaft one end thereof is provided with a sprocket wheel 129 fast thereon connected by a sprocket chain 131 (Fig. 1) with a sprocket wheel 133 fast on the music spool shaft 47 referred to. The shaft 47 is rotated in one direction by the gear transmission connections between said shaft and the shaft 25 in rewinding and in the opposite direction by the transmission connection between the spools afforded by the note sheet. Thus the shaft 125 is rotated first in one direction and then in the opposite direction according to the directions of rotation of the music spool and take-up spool.

A portion of the shaft 125 is formed to present a screw 135 (Fig. 3) having threaded thereon a member typified herein as a nut 137 Z-shaped in form presenting a front arm 139 and a rear arm 141.

An elongatedrod 143 is provided parallel with the shaft 125 and extending through a bore in the nut arm 139 and a bore in a bracket 145 mounted on the top of the spool box. The right end of the rod 143 is adapted to engage the lower end of the valve 111 to tilt the latter on its fulcrum pin 113 and open the same as more fully hereinafter described. The opposite end of said rod is bent to present a spur 147. A second elongated rod 149 is provided parallel to the shaft 125 and extending through a bore in the nut arm 141 and a bore in a bracket 151 mounted on the top of the spool box. The left end of this rod is adapted to engage and open the valve 123 and the opposite end is provided with a spur 153 connected to the spur 147 of the rod 143 by a light helical spring 155. This spring tends to shift the rods 143 and 149 in opposite directions to maintain the same in engagement with their valves. The tension of the spring 155, however, is very materially less thanthe tension of the leaf springs 115 for normally maintaining the valves 117 and 123 closed. Con sequently the spring 155 will not open said valves.

The rods 143 and 149 may be connected with the nut 141 to traveltherewith and thereby open said valves. To accomplish this the rod 143 may be connected to the nut arn1139 by what may be termed the repeat handle pin 157 tapped in said arm and having an end adapted to press said rod against the bore of said arm. Therod 149 may be connected with the nut arm 141 by What may be termed the reverse handle pin 159 tapped in said arm and having an end adapted to press said rod against the bore of said arm.

lVhile the note sheet is being unwound from the music spool for playing, the nut 137 travels to the left of Fig. 3 and while the notesheet is being rewound onto the music spool, the nut is fed toward the right of Fig. 3. To arrest the feeding of the nut 137 to the right of Fig. 3 after the note sheet is completely rewound on the music spool, the threaded portion of the shaft 125 terminates at 161. Consequently any rotation of the shaft 125 after the nut 137 reaches this point will be ineffective to cause said nut to travel farther to the right.

To insure the engagement of the thread of the screw with the thread of the nut, the shaft 125 is provided with a reduced portion 163 encircling which is a helical spring 165 1 having one end engaging a shoulder 167 011 said shaft and its opposite end adapted to engage one end of the nut 137. This spring will be engaged by the end of said nut shortly prior to leaving the threaded portion of the shaft thereby tensioning said spring sufficiently to enable the latter to urge said nut to the left and insure the proper interengagement of the screw and nut threads when the shaft 125 is given a slight rotation incidental to the pulling of the end of the note sheet from the music spool over to and for attachment with the take-up spool.

In operation it may be supposed the note sheet has been fed from the music spool onto the take-up spool and the composition has been played and that it is desired to repeat a portion of the composition. To accomplish this, in the course of the playing of the composition the point of the commencement of the playing of the portion which it was desired to repeat was noted and simultaneously therewith the repeat handle pin 157 was tightened, thereby connecting the rod 143 with the nut 137, and causing the rod to move away from the valve 111, toward the left of Fig. 3. \Vhen the playing of the compositionis completed the shaft 125 is reversed, thereby causing the nut and rod to travel to the right and the sheet is rewound on the music spool until the end of the rod 143 returns to and engages the lower end of the valve 111. Then it opens said valve and automatically arrests the rewinding of the note sheet on the music spool and initiates the unwinding of the sheet from said spool. As a result the playing of the rewound portion of the composition is repeated.

hen it is desired to repeat a portion of the composition priorto the playing of the complete composition, the reverse handle pin 159 is tightened to connect the rod 149 with the nut 137 Since said nut is traveling to the left of Fig. 3, while the composition is being played, it will promptly cause the rod 149 to press against the lower end of the valve 121 and open the same to atmos phere, thereby arresting the unwinding of the sheet from the music spool and starting the rewinding of the sheet on the music spool. The nut will now travel to the right of .Fig. 8 until the rod 143 engages and opens the valve 111, whereupon the rewinding operation will cease and the unwinding operation will commence and the playing of the portion of the composition desired is repeated.

The handlepins may be tightened to connect the rods 1&3 and 149 to the nut to open the valves 111 and 123 at any times desired. As a result the entire or any portion of the composition may be repeated as many times as desired.

In some cases it may be desired to the note sheet on the music spool and repeat the playing thereof automatically for an indefinite space of time. To accomplish'this the playing mechanism may be driven continously. It will suiiice herein for the present purposes to describe means for driving the music spool and take-up spool alternately continuously. Toaccomplish this the motor pncumatics described for driving said spools are connected by tubes 169 with a pump 171 havinga pulley 173, connected by a belt 175 withthe driving pulley 177 of an electric motor17 9. To control the starting andstopping of the motor a handle 181 is mounted at the front of the key-bed where. conveniently accessible, and

is connected by a link 183 witha switch in a switch box 185. The switch is connected by wires 18 7 with the electric motor and by wires with a plug adapted to be connected to any suitable source of electricity. The

pump, motor, and switch may be of any desired or approved type of well known con struction, and therefore it is-not necessary to describe said parts in detail herein.

So long as the handle switch is in positionto close the circuit to the motor, the piano-player will operate continuously. Consequently the controlling device for shifting the drive to and from the music spool and take-up spool will be operated continuously. Obviously the controlling device may be set automatically to repeat the playing of the entire note sheet or any part thereof indefinitely. While the invention is described herein as applied to a piano-player, it will be understood that its field of application is not limited thereto.

Having described one illustrative embodiment of the invention without limiting the same thereto, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and a take-up spool, means for alternately driving said spools, controlling means cooperating with said driving means and controlling the operation of the same and including means for selecting during the playing of a note sheet any deslred continuous portion thereof,

rewind a means cooperating with said selecting means for repeating the playing of said selected portion. 7 V

2. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and a takeup spool, a note sheet, means for alternately driving said spools, and means cooperating with said driving means and independent of said note sheet and adapted to be set in the course of the playing of the same for automatically repeating the playing of a portion of said sheet.

3. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and a takeup spool, a note sheet, means for alternately driving said spools, an'd'means cooperating with said driving means-and independent of said note sheet and adapted to be set in the course of the playing [of said sheet for reversing said sheet and repeating the playing of a portion of the same.

' 4. In an automatic musical instrument, operating meansfor said instrument, in combination with controlling means for said operating means, said controlling means having means adapted to be set in the course of the operation of the instrument for automatically repeating a portion ofthe composition played by the instrument.

5. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a tracker, a music spool, a take-up spool, a note sheet adapted to be fed to and from said spools, and means for repeating the playing of a portion of the note sheet, said means including a member movable in one direction While the sheet is unwinding from the music spool, and in an opposite direction while the sheet is winding on the music spool, and means operated by.

said member for repeating the unwinding of a portion of said sheet.

6. In an automatic musical instrument the combination of a music spool with a take-up'spo-ol, a note sheet, driving means for said spools, a member actuated by said driving means movable in opposite directions according to the unwinding of the sheet from and winding of the sheet on said music spool, and means operated by said member for automatically reversing the driving means.

7 In an automatic musical instrument the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools including a clutch, and controlling means for said clutch includinga member adapted to be set to shift said clutch and automatically change the direction of. rotation of said spools at any point in the feeding of a sheet from one spool to the other to repeat the playing of a portion of said sheet.

8. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools i means including ,pneuinatics for I and "controlling* nieans for said? drivin meanslncl u'dm-g e aminesemnants" potash of teenage member aaapted-soabe sueeavay set the amuse-bf the playing ofa note sheet auto matieau ae rewind and unwind; any 'prede' terniinedcon'tihuou's portion-pf saidsheet. 9. In an-'= -aiaea1at musical instrument," music Iwith take-up spool, driving means for said -sp'ools, andcontrollingfmeahs" for said Y drivingsliifta'ble member; power fting fsaid*"menrbe1'in op 'po'sit'e directionsjvalves for controlling said the "combination 0f pneumatics, and means selectively operable in accordanc witli' tlfe fl cf the i sheet for operating--said valvesto shift said-*- member to rewind andunwind any predesheet.

10. In an automatic musical instrument the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools, and controlling means for said driving means including a manually adjustable member adapted to be selectively set to thereafter operate to repeat the playing of any predetermined continuous portion of the note sheet.

11. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means therefor, and controlling means for said driving means including selectively operable manually ad-.

justable repeating and reversing members for automatically repeating the playing of any predetermined continuous portion of a note sheet.

12. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools and controlling means for said driving means including a screw shaft driven by said driving means, a nut on said screw shaft, power pneumatics, valves for controlling said pneumatics, rods adjacent said shaft, a spring connecting said rods tending to hold the same against said valves, and manually adjustable members for connecting said rods to said nut to cause them to travel with said nut and open said valves.

13. In an automatic musical instrument,- the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools, and controlling means for said driving means including a screw shaft driven by the latter, a nut on said screw shaft, power pneumatics, valves therefor, rods adjacent said shaft, spring means urging said rods toward said valves, and handle pins tapped into said nut to connect said rods therewith and cause the same to travel with said nut and positively open said valves.

14. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a I g take-up spool, driving means for said manually T adjustable spools, and'controlling means for said driving means including a screw shaft, a nut on said shaft,powerpneum'atics, valves therefor} and means operated by said nut for 'ope'ning'said valves to actuate said pneumatics and control the direction of rotation of said spools.

15. In an automatic musical instrument, t'hecombination of a music spool with a take-up spool, driving means for said spools, andcontrolling means for said driving meansincluding a screw shaft, a member fed by said'shaft, a clutch, power pneumatics for shifting said clutch, valves for said-pneumatics, and means operated by said member for opening said valves and causingsaid pneum'atics' to shift said clutch to'change the direction of feed of a note sheet from one of said spools to the other.

16. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and a takeup spool, means for alternately driving said spools, and controlling means for said driving means, said controlling means including means for changing the direction of drive at a point intermediate the ends of the playing portions of a note sheet, said last mentioned means being operable to selectively predetermine the portion of the note sheet to be repeated.

17. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and takeup spool, means for driving said spools, and controlling means for said driving means, said controlling means including means for rewinding and repeating the playing of any desired continuous portion of a note sheet, said last-mentioned means being operable to selectively predetermine the portion of the note sheet to be repeated.

18. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, means for driving said spools, and manually adjustable controlling means for said driving means including means for automatically rewinding and repeating the playing of any predetermined continuous portion of a note sheet continuously.

19. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, motor means for driving said spools, and manually adjustable controlling means for said motor means including means for rewinding and repeating the playing of any predetermined continuous portion of a note sheet continuously.

20. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool with a take-up spool, motor means for driving said spools including an electric circuit and a manually-controlled switch for said circuit, and controlling means for said motor means having provision for continuously rewinding a note sheet and repeating the playing of any predetermined continuous portion thereof while said switch is inposition to complete the circuit to said motor.

21. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of a music spool and a take up spool, a note sheet, driving means in- 22. In an automatlc musical instrument, o the combination of a music spool and a take- Copies 91. this patent may be obtained for up spool, a note sheet, driving means including reversing mechanism for winding and unwinding said note sheet, and ,means independent of. said note sheet and cooperating with said driving means but normally not affecting the operation and reversing action of the same for selectively repeating any predetermined continuousf portion of said'note sheet. r r

' In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' GUY M. RUSSELL.

Witnesses: V 7

PHILLIP H. OoMMnRroRn, M X V. GRAVES.

five cents eaeh, by addressing the Commissioner of .Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

